Friday, October 4, 2013

The "Ship of Tolerance" New York by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov on the Brooklyn Waterfront

Ship of Tolerance is a conceptual art installation which aims to educate and connect youth of different continents, cultures and identities through the language of art. The ship's sails are stitched together from paintings by hundreds of schoolchildren from different ethnic and social backgrounds to convey a message of tolerance and hope. Originally modeled after an ancient Egyptian sailing vessel, the Ship is constructed with a wood frame and measures approximately 66-feet long by 23-feet wide. The ship is now on view on the Brooklyn waterfront, docked on the East River between Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge until October 8th. It was part of this year's DUMBO Arts Festival last weekend.

Under the direction of Russian artists, Emilia and Ilya Kabakov and project director, Yulia Dultsina, the Studio in a School art instructors led workshops for hundreds of students, ages 5 through 13, in public schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. 150 student paintings were sewn together to create the sail for The Ship of Tolerance.

“Children understand tolerance amazingly well. They are mostly unspoiled by the prejudice often carried by the adults. If we listen to them, perhaps, we can alleviate some of the oppression we witness everyday,” commented Emilia and Ilya Kabakov.